How to do content repurposing in an efficient way

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I know that the idea of content repurposing has existed for so long but I just never get around to do it. Am I against content repurposing? Of course not! In fact, I think content repurposing is a brilliant idea but sadly, I didn’t do it. Theoretically, it’s the best thing to do but if you’re a solopreneur like me, content repurposing can drain you completely if you don’t do it strategically and efficiently.

Well, that was the state I was in since I have no idea how to do content repurposing as a solopreneur. Other people praise the idea of content repurposing because they have a dedicated team to repurpose the contents but I certainly don’t. I’m pretty sure you’re the same situation like me too.

Content repurposing: why it’s not an evil, dirty thing

Some of us still shunned with the idea of content repurposing because content repurposing is a fancy term for recycling your existing contents. In the world of online marketing, recycling your contents seem evil to most of us because it just shows how disrespect you are to your audience.

If this is how you actually feel, I have better reasons why you should consider repurposing your existing contents. After all, the state of online marketing is no longer like how it used to be.

People prefer to consume same information in different format

I’m pretty sure you have heard this statement many times – most people who comes to your blog only skim the blog post and never sit down to read word-by-word. I bet I’m not the only one who do this and I can guess you did the same too.

Because most people to have short attention span these days, this is why most blogs nowadays are in the format of podcast and video because it’s more interactive and entertaining than a plain, long blog post. They still have blog posts in text format but they offer a wide variety of formats to suit different people.

After all, some people love to listen to the information while they’re doing something else. Some people on the other hand prefer to sit down and watch the video and the rest of us love to sit down and read because they believe they read freaking fast.

Each of us prefer different ways to consume information which is why your content repurposing effort should focus on different type of people.

It’s a better being everywhere approach

If you want to be everywhere, this is a better approach instead of being everywhere on all social media platforms. Social media platforms require you to be active, which can be time consuming if you don’t have a dedicated team but if you repurpose the content into different format, they will only expect the new content to be available on a certain time.

Let’s say you would tell your audience that new episode of your podcast or video will be available every Tuesday, they will wait expect the new episode will be available on Tuesday. It’s much easier to maintain your presence in different format because you only need a fixed schedule.

Sure, you can have a fixed schedule on social media such as there will be certain time you’ll be active on the said social media channels but you still need to be there almost everyday. After all, this is what they expect you to do on social media. If your content is in different format, they don’t demand much for you except being consistent with your schedule.

How I plan to repurpose my contents

I’ve been thinking a lot about how to repurpose my content lately and I’m glad that I finally did find a solution on how to do this efficiently. Even though this is only a working plan, I believe this is also something you can use too if you’re already sold with the idea of repurposing your contents.

This is only a rough idea on how I’m going to repurpose my contents so the idea is subject to change and yes, you can modify it too to suit your need.

What format I’m planning to use

There are many formats to choose from when it comes to repurposing the contents so I’ll go with these formats:

• Blog post
• Audio (I’m planning to start my first podcast real soon)
• YouTube video
• Slide presentation
• Digital magazine

Wow, that’s a lot of formats, isn’t it? From the list itself, it must have taken a lot of time on my side but it’s not really that much. Theoretically, I feel like I can handle it but not sure when I’m about to implement this strategy for real. I’ll see how it goes but this is something that I should put in my work schedule.

How to put the strategy in order

The list of format is actually not in chronologically in order. Can you guess which format I should create first? Here’s the format I should create first and after that, the rest of formats will become much easier to create.

Step 1: Create slide presentation and upload it on SlideShare

I heard a lot of tremendous results about repurpose the contents in the form of slide and upload it on SlideShare. I’m itching to try how it will turn out so this is what I should create first before I do anything else.

My initial plan is to create a slide presentation in the form of blog outline. I always do blog outline before I write a blog post but now the outline will be available in the form of slide presentation instead of on a piece paper.

Even though I decided to create a podcast and video, I still need to have an outline because I have to make sure that I’m sticking to the topic when I’m recording a podcast and video. From this, you can guess what will be the next step.

Step 2: Record podcast and video at the same time

Okay, this is what I’m planning to do but I hope my PC won’t crash when I attempt to record both podcast and video at the same time. I haven’t take a look at the alternative way to do this but this is what I intended to do.

The video will be recorded as a screencast so you wouldn’t see me talking in front of the camera just like how most people would do. I have no problem with that, it’s just that I think screencast is a better option for me than standing in front of the camera and start talking.

Step 3: Write show note on the blog

Your podcast is already available on iTunes. Your video is also now on YouTube and not to mention, your slide presentation is already available on SlideShare but you still need to have the whole formats in your blog post.

The reason is simple: it’s actually to bring the engagement back to your blog. They may enjoy listening to your podcast, love your YouTube video and download your slide presentation but they still want to express their thoughts and nothing works better than bringing them back to your blog and start engaging with you in the comment section.

People still love to engage with you by commenting on the blog post so you should bring them back to your blog to make connections with them.

This is also another way to bring those on your email list back to your blog because chances are, they may not be following you in any of those channels. Never assume that people on your email list are following you on those channels. They pick to follow up with you using email because it’s still the most convenient to some of them.

Step 4: Convert the blog post into digital magazine with FlipBoard

I have been paying attention to FlipBoard for so long but never consider using it. Some people love to read in the form of digital magazine so it’s a good idea to convert your blog post into a digital magazine.

The conversion doesn’t have to be so hard because all you need to do is to submit your blog as RSS feed to Flipboard. I haven’t submitted this blog yet because Flipboard requires you to have 30 posts in your RSS feed and I don’t have that many contents yet on my blog.

Over to you

Now, your blog is now available in multiple format. Isn’t that amazing? If you have better suggestion on how to do content repurposing in an efficient manner, feel free to leave a comment below. I’d love to know how you’re intending to do.